Alexandra Brewis Slade


Alexandra Brewis Slade is a New Zealand-American anthropologist who studies how health reflects the interaction of human biology and culture. She is a President's Professor at Arizona State University and an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She founded ASU's , and was appointed as Director of ASU's School of Human Evolution and Social Change from 2009-2017. In 2016-17, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change was ranked #1 in anthropology in the US for research scale and #1 in the US for research impact. Brewis Slade is currently president of the Human Biology Association.

Education

She earned her anthropology B.A at University of Auckland in 1985, her M.A. there in 1989, and her Ph.D from the University of Arizona in 1992. Her postdoctoral training in demography was at Brown University.

Research

Her research integrates the study of culture and biology to understand human health and well-being. Brewis Slade has conducted field research in the Pacific islands, the Americas, and the Caribbean, and published extensively on the human dimensions of obesity and water insecurity. In 2011, her research demonstrating the rapid globalization of negative views toward obesity was covered on the . She communicates strategies for recognizing and reducing stigma in global health practice through her blog, "".

Books